Western Oregon (4-4, 1-0) at Montana State Billings (4-4, 0-1)
Game 9 | Dec. 5 | 7 p.m. MT (6 p.m. PT) | Alterowitz Gymnasium | Billings, MT 
Series: Western Oregon leads 12-10
Last Meeting:  Feb. 25, 2016 – Won, 80-72 in Billings
 
Western Oregon (4-4, 1-0) vs. Portland Bible (0-9)
 Exh. Game 1 | Dec. 11 | 7 p.m. PT | The 109 (New PE Building) | Monmouth, OR 
Series: First meeting all-time
Last Meeting: --

LIVE VIDEO/STATS: WOUWolves.com/Live

NOTES: WOU – MSUB - PBC

 
STORYLINES
•   The Western Oregon men's basketball team returns to action with a split week, continuing Great Northwest Athletic Conference action on Monday at Montana State Billings followed by a Sunday night exhibition against Portland Bible College. Both games are at 7 p.m. local time with Monday's game beginning at 6 p.m. Pacific (7 p.m. Mountain).
•   Monday's meeting will the 25^th meeting all-time with the Yellowjackets, with the Wolves currently holding a six-game winning streak in the series.
•   The meeting with the Wildcats will be one of two mid-December exhibitions for the Wolves. Portland Bible College sponsors just one sport in men's basketball. They have already played three other GNAC schools this year – Alaska Anchorage, Alaska, Northwest Nazarene.
•   Live video and stats for both games will be available at WOUWolves.com/Live.
 
LAST TIME OUT
•   Western Oregon went 1-1 last week after winning its GNAC home opener against Concordia on Tuesday and falling to nationally-ranked Oregon in Eugene on Wednesday.
• The Wolves had one of their better shooting nights (51.6 percent overall) to defeat Concordia, 80-70.
•   Tanner Omlid finished with 19 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four steals while Yanick Kulich had 13 points, seven rebounds and three blocks to lead the Wolves.
•   Ali Faruq-Bey was the third WOU player in double figures with 12 points. Demetrius Trammell had three 3-pointers to close the night with nine points.
•   On Wednesday, Western Oregon was outpaced by the Oregon Ducks at Matthew Knight Arena, 93-54. Bryan Berg has a spectacular run in the second half to finish with a team-high 17 points, including five 3-pointers.
•   J.J. Chirnside matched his career-high with five defensive rebounds over the final five minutes. The Wolves closed the game on an 11-0 run.
•   Malik Leaks had 10 points and three rebounds to join Berg in double figures.
 
ABOUT WESTERN OREGON
• Western Oregon is averaging 72.1 points per game on the season and has a scoring margin of -1.5 (altered by a 39-point loss to Oregon).
• The Wolves are shooting 39.7 percent from the field, including 33.3 percent from 3-point range.
• WOU is averaging 10.5 free throws a game and is shooting 66.1 percent from the stripe this season.
• Western Oregon is averaging 34.8 rebounds per game, but has faced a -6.2 rebound margin in 2016-17.
• Western Oregon is averaging 13.8 assists, 11.4 turnovers, 8.4 steals and 3.4 blocks per game.
• Tanner Omlid is the WOU scoring and rebounding leader entering the week at 12.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. He has the only three double-doubles posted for Western Oregon this season, all coming in road games.
• Ali Faruq-Bey enters the week as the second-leading scorer at 12.0 points per game.
• Faruq-Bey is also averaging 4.6rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.
• Seven players, in all, average 6.5 points or more a game.
• Head coach Jim Shaw is in his second season at Western Oregon. Shaw was the 2015-16 GNAC and NABC West Region Coach of the Year. His previous assistant coaching stops include Saint Mary's, Washington, Oklahoma, Portland, Montana State, Southern Utah, Oregon State, Chemeketa and Idaho State.
• New faces appear on Shaw's bench with the addition of Gage Aker, Zach Payne and Jalen James to the coaching staff. Josh Reber is the only assistant coach to carry over from the 2015-16 staff.
• Western Oregon was picked to finish sixth in the 2016-17 GNAC regular season title race by the league's coaches.
 
ABOUT MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
• Montana State Billings is 4-4 on the season and is 0-1 in GNAC play.
• The Yellowjackets are coming off of a 92-82 loss to Concordia on Saturday night in Billings.
• MSUB saw a three-game win streak snapped by the Cavs. They had recently won three road games against RMAC schools – Chadron State, Colorado Mesa and Western State Colorado.
• The Yellowjackets are averaging 79.6 points per game while allowing 77.4 per contest.
• MSUB is shooting 42.8 percent from the field and 31.4 percent from 3-point range as a team
• MSUB is averaging 16.1 made free throws per game and is shooting 75.0 percent from the free throw line
• MSUB is averaging 38.6 rebounds per game and has a +2.3 rebound margin on the year
• The Yellowjackets are averaging 12.1 assists, 15.9 turnovers, 5.5 steals and 2.5 blocks per game
• Preston Beverly currently leads MSUB in scoring (17.3 ppg) and is second in rebounding (7.4 rpg)
• Christian Evans tops the rebounding numbers at 8.4 boards and game and is second at 12.5 ppg.
• Marc Matthews has hit 17 3-pointers for MSUB while averaging 11.6 ppg.
• Jamie Stevens is in his sixth season as MSUB's head coach. He owns a career record 119-124, including 66-85 at MSUB.

 
ABOUT PORTLAND BIBLE
• Portland Bible will face Pacific Lutheran on Friday before traveling to Monmouth for Sunday's matchup.
• The Wildcats are winless on the season at 0-9 and also have a pair of exhibition losses to Alaska Anchorage.
• PBC enters the week averaging 53.3 points per game while allowing 92.3 ppg.
• Mike Arnold is the head coach at Portland Bible. He also works at Clark College in Vancouver, Wash., where he was also the men's basketball coach until 2012.
 

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